Malawian taekwondo athlete impressive at Rio 2016 qualifiers, out in quarters
Malawi’s hopes of producing a qualified athlete for the first time in history was dealt a blow after Yamikani Guba flopped at Rio 2016 Olympics Africa qualifiers held in Moroccan city of Agadir.
Guba flopped in the quarterfinals of the qualifiers for the the 80kg category after losing to Firmin Zokou of Ivory Coast.
His coach Lovemore Masinga described his performance as impressive despite losing at the first hurdle since the Malawian was seeded.
“He put up a good fight and I am impressed,” Masinga said.
“Of course we are disappointed considering that we were hoping to make history by producing the athlete to qualify for Olympic Games.”
The tournament which was held in the Moroccan coastal city in the Atlantic Ocean saw host country producing a qualified athlete.
Other countries which produced qualified athletes from the tournament are Ivory Coast, DRC, Gabon, Libya, Egypt and Nigeria.
Malawi Olympic Committee sponsored Masinga and the athlete to participate at the games.
This is a blow to Malawi national Olympic Committee as efforts to produce a qualified athlete has been hitting a snag.
The association dangled a K500,000 carrot to enable the athletes from all sporting disciplines make history.
